Mountain bike club rolls into Zeeland high schools

Sunday

Aug 10, 2014 at 3:30 PM

By Lisa.Ermak@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4219

Keith Walker: Educator by day. Avid mountain biker and cyclist by night.The Zeeland high schools band director has been hitting the pavement for years. Road and mountain biking have been a longtime hobby.For years, he has wanted to share his love of riding with his students and form an after-school mountain bike club.After talking with Zeeland Public Schools Superintendent Cal DeKuiper, who agreed creating the club was a good idea, Walker took the proposal to the board of education and received official approval to start the club this fall.“I put it together with the idea of getting kids outside,” Walker said. “There’s so much fresh air and opportunity out there to do stuff. I thought it’d be a cool opportunity to do something they enjoy and get exercise as a side benefit.”“He’s just a great teacher,” DeKuiper said. “I think what makes him great is he doesn’t really look at it as work. What he does for his profession is just his passion. We’re really just fortunate that you have someone on staff with that kind of passion and love.”Walker has been working out a deal with his part-time employer Velo City Cycles so students in the club can get bike safety inspections and loaner bikes if they don’t have one at home.The club will be informal, non-competitive and open to all skill levels, Walker said.Students will take trips around the greater Holland/Zeeland area, to Riley Trails and Pigeon Creek. They will take daylong trips on weekends to Fort Custer Recreation Area or the Cannonsburg State Game Area.Walker even hopes to keep the club going through the winter, with students trying out fat tire bikes, which maneuver through soft terrain like sand and snow.Already, a dozen students have expressed interest in joining.“We’re hoping in the future, seeing how this goes, maybe we can open it up and be an area-wide club,” Walker said. “We want kids out there being healthy.”— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelLisa.